Are you planning to apply for the Johns Hopkins Provost Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)? Have your application reviewed by experts — people who have previously won! Bring your applications to Shaffer 300 at 7p.m. on Oct. 1 and prepare for some constructive criticism. Improve your chances of winning funding for your great research idea! This meeting is open to any student applying for the PURA grant. This event hosted and sponsored by Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology.

The PURA program offers Johns Hopkins University students unique opportunities to conduct undergraduate research. Founded in 1993 on the belief that encouraging undergraduates to engage in research activity enhances the learning experience and helps to develop investigative skills, the PURA program is an important part of the university’s mission. PURA has given out an average of 46 awards per year (2 cycles/ year) since its inception in 1993. Guided by a full-time faculty sponsor, PURA research is designed by the student and can take many forms. From policy to nanotechnology; DNA engineering to musical presentation; short film to depression; the PURA program has enabled undergraduates to study all manner of subjects and have their results published in professional journals.

The Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute hosts the talk, “Bioinspired Micropatterned Surfaces with Switchable Functionality” with speaker Eduard Arzt, Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute for New Materials and Department of Materials Science, Saarland University (Germany) on Wednesday, June 18 at 11 a.m. in B17 Hackerman Hall.

Eduard Arzt

Abstract: New surfaces and coatings can drastically improve the properties and applicability of materials. At INM, we develop and investigate new micro- and nanopatterned surfaces for diverse functionalities: low friction, adhesion, corrosion protection, anti-reflection, electric storage and combinations of these. Such surfaces either exhibit new chemistries or new topographies, sometimes on different hierarchical levels. This talk will first summarize some of our developments by bridging the scientific principles with existing or emerging applications. It will then focus on micropatterning of surfaces for novel adhesive functionalities: the exploitation of judiciously designed surface protrusions, “fibrils” and other features at the micron scale – as insects, spiders and geckos – to create fundamentally new degrees of freedom for mechanical and other surface functions. Our extensive research in this area has recently led to the following results: i)design of active surfaces that exploit a transition from an adhesive to non-adhesive state, ii) first implementation in active pick-and-place systems, and iii) our recent developments in producing functional surfaces for interaction with soft materials, such as human skin. Our current emphasis is on controlling adhesion and friction, which is of great potential interest in microfabrication, construction industry, and sports equipment. Such developments require modeling and simulation activities which help understand the micromechanics of patterned adhesion and identify optimum parameters in a vast parameter space.

This talk is free and open to the Hopkins community. Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBiotechnology supports this event.

Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnolgy’s first professional development seminar of the summer will be held June 4 at 10:30 a.m. in Schaffer 3 (downstairs). This week we will have a graduate panel give three different perspectives of the graduate school process. The panel consists of current PhD students and recent graduates of INBT laboratories, all from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Speakers include:

Quinton Smith was a previous REU (twice!) and works in Sharon Gerecht lab. He will give his perspective of how you can transitions from being an REU to a graduate student.

Luisa Russell can give a general perspective on graduate school, the admissions process, choosing a lab, etc. She is a second-year PhD candidate in the materials science department working on hybrid multifunctional nanoparticles in Peter Searson’s research group.

Allison Chambliss recently defended her PhD and can give the full perspective of being a graduate student, research, defending and looking for a job. She was part of the Denis Wirtz laboratory.

INBT will host a special seminar, “From bacterial intelligence to a cyber-war on cancer,” on April 17 at 2 p.m. in Room 160 of the Mattin Center. The guest speaker is Eshel Ben-Jacob, PhD, professor and Maguy-Glass Chair in Physics of Complex Systems from Tel Aviv University. This event is free and open to the university community.

ABSTRACT: Cancer continues to elude us. Metastasis, relapse and drug resistance are all still poorly understood and clinically insuperable. Evidently, the prevailing paradigms need to be re-examined and out-of-the-box ideas ought to be explored. Drawing upon recent discoveries demonstrating the parallels between collective behaviors of bacteria and cancer, Dr. Ben-Jacob shall present a new picture of cancer as a society of smart communicating cells motivated by the realization of bacterial social intelligence. There is growing evidence that cancer cells, much like bacteria, rely on advanced communication, social networking and cooperation to grow, spread within the body, colonize new organs, relapse and develop drug resistance. Dr. Ben-Jacob shall address the role of communication, cooperation and decision-making in bacterial collective navigation, swarming logistics and colony development. This will lead to a new picture of cancer as a networked society of smart cells and to new understanding of the interplay between cancer and the immune system. Dr. Ben-Jacob shall reason that the new understanding calls for “a cyber-war” on cancer – the developments of drugs to target cancer communication and control.

THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE THREAT OF A WINTER STORM AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED.

“Ever heard about seaweed, Mucinex®, stem cells, and the International Space Station in the same conversation?” is the name of the talk to be given by Johns Hopkins University alumni Shashi Murthy, PhD, at 10:30 am on Thursday, February 13 in the Shriver Hall Clipper Room. The talk is free and open to the Hopkins community and sponsored by Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology.

Shashi Murthy

Shashi Murthy is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Founding Director of the Michael J. and Ann Sherman Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship Education at Northeastern University. This presentation will combine a scientific description of a methodology for stem cell purification designed in by the Murthy laboratory with the story of its ongoing commercialization. Murthy will also talk about how the vision behind the Michael J. and Ann Sherman Center for Entrepreneurship Education came into being and how this Center is impacting the undergraduate experience in the College of Engineering at Northeastern University.

Robert Veltri, associate professor Of Urology and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Director of the Fisher Biomarker Biorepository Laboratory, will present the talk Quantitative Histomorphometry of Digital Pathology: Case study in prostate cancer,” to members of the Denis Wirtz Lab and the Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences-Oncology Center on Monday, December 9 at 2 p.m. in Croft G40 on the Homewood campus. Seating is limited.

Robert Veltri

Veltri studies the biomarkers for prostate and bladder cancer and is collaborating on applications of Quantitative Digital Image Analysis (QDIA) using microscopy to quantify nuclear structure and tissue architecture. Collaborations include Case Western Reserve University biomedical engineering and the University of Pittsburgh Electrical Engineering departments studying to assess cancer aggressiveness in prostate cancer (PCa). Furthermore, he is studying the application of molecular biomarkers for prostate (CaP) and bladder cancer (BlCa) detection and prognosis. Veltri’s work is funded by the National Cancer Institute’s PS-OC program grant), Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), and the Department of Defense related to research on Active Surveillance for PCa. He is also a co-investigator on a SBIR-I and II grant studying the application of microtransponders to multiplex molecular urine and serum biomarker testing for CaP. Veltri has authored over 152 scientific publications and is either inventor or co-inventor on over twenty patents and two trademarks.

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering’s scheduled Thursday, October 10 seminar will continue as planned at 3:30 PM in Maryland Hall 110. Jerry Lee, the Health Sciences Director at the National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health) will present his lecture “Advancing Convergence and Innovation in Cancer Research: National Cancer Institute Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives (CSSI).” A small reception will follow in Maryland Hall 109.

Jerry S.H. Lee, Ph.D

ABSTRACT

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives (CSSI) is a component of the NCI’s Office of the Director focused on emerging advanced technologies that have the potential of uniquely impacting the full spectrum of cancer basic and clinical research. The Center is tasked with planning, developing, executing, and implementing rapid strategic scientific and technology initiatives that keep the Institute ahead of the scientific curve with respect to potential new exciting areas and discoveries. This may involve direct development and application of advanced technologies, synergy of large scale and individual initiated research, and/or using available federal mechanisms to forge novel partnerships that emphasize innovation, trans-disciplinary teams and convergence of scientific disciplines. With an emphasis on complementing the scientific efforts of other NCI divisions, CSSI’s efforts seek to enable the translation of discoveries into new interventions, both domestically and in the international arena, to detect, prevent and treat cancer more effectively. This presentation will highlight various programs and their associated accomplishments within CSSI’s broad scientific portfolio of programs (Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers, Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies, and Provocative Questions) and describe future directions and opportunities.

Three of the 11 presenters are affiliated faculty members of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. This event is sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. There is no cost but reservations are required. Working press as well as freelance writers are invited to attend.

Every summer, Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology hosts a series of free professional development seminars for the Hopkins community. Seminars will be held from 10:45 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Wednesdays in June and July in Shaffer 3 (the basement auditorium). Dates and topics are as follows:

June 13: How to promote yourself and the benefits of networking with Tom Fekete, INBT’s director of Corporate Partnerships.

June 27: Why should you consider grad school and how do you prepare? The speaker is Christine Kavanaugh, Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions, Communications and Enrollment for Johns Hopkins University.

July 11: I got my PhD, now what? This will be a panel discussion about various career pathways post graduate school, including entrepreneurship and working in academia or the government. Panel participants will be Shyam Khatau, PhD (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering JHU); Stephen Diegelmann, PhD (Chemistry, JHU now working at Case Western Reserve University); and Nicole Moore, ScD (Program Manager in the Office of Physical Sciences-Oncology at NIH/ NCI).

July 25: INBT Student Film Festival. This seminar will premiere the films made by students in the Science Communications for Scientists and Engineers course taught by Mary Spiro, INBT’s science writer.

Tilak Ratnanather, an associate research professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, is one of 14 winners of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The honor, presented last week, is given by the White House to individuals and organizations in recognition of the crucial role that […]